Bernt Kennet Andersson was born in Eskilstuna, Sweden, on October 6, 1967.
He started his football with local club Eskilstuna in the Swedish Third Division. In four seasons he played 76 league games with 20 goals.
In 1989 he moved to IFK Göteborg in the Allsvenskan (top tier). In three seasons he played 63 league games with 29 goals. The "BlåVitt" (The Blue and Whites) won the league (1990, 1991) and the Swedish Cup (1991). In 1990-91 he was the top scorer in the Allsvenskan with 13 goals.
In 1991 he joined Mechelen in the Belgian top tier. In two seasons he played 33 games with 8 goals for "Malinwa". Halfway through the second season, in January 1993, he returned to Sweden to play for IFK Norrkőping. He played 13 league games with 8 goals for "Peking".
In 1993 he moved to France and joined Lille in Ligue 1. He played 32 league games with 11 goals. "Les Dogues" (The Mastiffs) finished 15th.
The following year he stayed in France but moved to Caen in Normandy. He played 31 league games and scored 9 goals. The Vikings were relegated to Ligue 2.
In 1995 Andersson started his Italian adventure when he joined Bari in Serie A. In Apulia he was coached by two former Lazio managers, first Giuseppe Materazzi (1-12) and then Eugenio Fascetti (13-34). The "Galletti" (The Cockerels) were relegated in 15th place after 8 wins, 8 draws (including Lazio 3-3 at home) and 18 defeats (including Lazio 3-4 in Rome). Andersson played 33 League games and scored 12 goals (Cagliari, Atalanta, Cremonese, Udinese x2, Torino, Lazio, Cagliari, Fiorentina, Parma, Udinese x2).
In 1996 he stayed in Serie A and joined Bologna. In his first year he was coached by Renzo Ulivieri and Bologna finished 7th and also reached the semi-final of Coppa Italia. Andersson played 29 League games with 8 goals (Reggiana, Lazio, Verona, Fiorentina, Reggiana x2, Piacenza, Cagliari) plus 3 goals in Coppa Italia (Torino, Cremonese x2). He played mainly alongside Igor Kolyvanov.
In his second year in Bologna the "Felsinei" came 8th (Intertoto) and he played alongside Kolyvanov again but also Roberto Baggio. Andersson made 32 League appearances with 12 goals (Atalanta, Napoli x2, Fiorentina, Udinese, Piacenza x2, Vicenza x2, Sampdoria x3) plus 1 game in Coppa Italia.
In his third year in Emilia, Ulivieri was replaced by Carlo Mazzone. The Rossoblu finished 9th but qualified for the UEFA Cup after beating Inter in a playoff. They also had good runs in the Coppa Italia and the UEFA Cup (they had qualified winning the Intertoto Cup) reaching the semi-finals in both competitions. Andersson played 25 league games with 6 goals (Piacenza x2, Bari, Venezia, Roma, Vicenza). He also scored against Inter in the playoff and a goal in Intertoto (Sampdoria). He played alongside Kolyvanov and former Lazio Beppe Signori.
In the summer of 1999 he joined Lazio on loan. He found fellow Swede Sven-Göran Eriksson as coach but things did not work out. He played a few summer friendlies and scored against Ajax but then by November had only played two league games. Lazio had Simone Inzaghi, Marcelo Salas and Alen Boksic up front plus Roberto Mancini and sometimes even played 4-5-1, so the big Swede got little playing time. In November he returned to Bologna.
In "La Grassa" (for its cuisine) he continued to do well. Under Francesco Guidolin (had taken over from Sergio Buso after 7 games) he played 28 league games with 7 goals (Inter x2, Cagliari, Lazio, Venezia, Fiorentina). Bologna finished 12th. He played alongside Signori again.
In the summer of 2000 he left Italy for Turkey. He joined Fenerbahçe and stayed two seasons. In the first,"Fener" won the league and Andersson played 27 league games with 10 goals. In his second, Galatasaray won the league and Andersson played 29 league games with 5 goals.
He then took a break and returned to play in 2005 but with GÃ¥rda in the Swedish sixth tier. He played 18 games with 14 goals.
At international level he won 83 caps for Sweden and scored 31 goals. He played in the 1992 European Championships where Sweden reached the semi-finals (he scored 1 goal). He then played the 1994 World Cup where he scored 5 goals (including Brazil) and Sweden came 3rd. He also took part in Euro 2000 where he played 3 games and one as captain (vs Turkey).
Since 2018 Andersson has been involved with IFK Göteborg. Initially, he was on the Board of Directors but now he is Sports Director.
Andersson was a striker. At 1.93 metres and 92 kilos, his main asset was his aerial play. The majority of his goals came from headers but his feet were not bad either. He scored goals but his attacking partners often flourished playing alongside him. He could hold the ball well, using his size to hold off defenders, making him a good partner to play off for more agile and mobile strikers. In Italy Protti was top scorer at Bari and Kolyvanov and Signori scored plenty of goals at Bologna. The great Italian defender Fabio Cannavaro (World Champion 2006) described Andersson as the most difficult attacker he faced in all his career.
It was a pity his time at Lazio was not a success. He won a European Supercup (Manchester United 1-0) but did not really fit in with Lazio's style.
Lazio Career
Season | Appearances Serie A |
Aug-Nov 1999 | 2 |
Sources